Every year, between 70 and 100 thatched properties will experience a serious fire in the UK. In addition to the irreplaceable loss to the built heritage, the financial cost of reinstatement is in excess of £200,000 per building on average.

The issue is well served generally in terms of actions that can be taken to prevent fires starting in the first place, stop them spreading and enhancing the detection of fire in vulnerable areas. However, the majority of thatch fires are chimney related, and are most often associated with the installation and use of modern multi-fuel appliances. make high performance open fires in period or contemporary styles for Thatch property owners.

A decision to up-date, open up or even install a new wood burning or solid fuel fire seems entirely natural in the context of an ancient Thatched property but many people are wary of the risks themselves and if they are not they are made aware when they broach the matter with their insurers. It’s not a case of can’t, though some do say no to certain types of fire, more a case of how much is it going to cost in increased premiums.

So what can be done to allow owners of Thatched properties to sleep better and pay lower premiums whilst having the open fire or stove they dream of?

Regulations abound around all solid fuel fires and the chimneys they are installed in these days but the recommended action according to HETAS, the body appointed by government to manage the implementations of these regulations, and the National Society of Master Thatchers go beyond these for Thatched properties. The approach has been informed by research into what causes chimney fires in Thatched properties by Roger Angold and Marjorie Sanders.

The focus of their recommended approach is on 3 main aspects. 1) Keep the hot flue gasses a minimum distance (200mm) away from the thatch the whole length of the chimney but particularly in the area around where the chimney passes through the thatch. 2) Reduce the temperature of that gap by ventilating a clear space between the thatch and the flue that is carrying the smoke up the chimney and 3) ensure the hot gases from the fire are leaving the chimney a safe distance (often 1.8 meters) from the closest surface of the thatch (often the ridge). Achieving these requirements is much easier in a large inglenook where you can see the stars up the straight chimney, but more of a challenge when it’s a small meandering chimney. This is the sort of detail a qualified HETAS installer should be able to ascertain from a survey and make recommendations on ways forward.

Finally both the authors of the research mentioned and the NSMT suggest that choosing an open fire instead of a stove can further reduce the risk of fire because greater volumes of air accompanying the smoke up the chimney from an open fire will significantly lower the temperatures reached in the chimney system. There are companies such Camelot Real Fires who specialise in high performance open fires where you can have that fire along with credible performance and heat output and still sleep comfortably at night.

Camelot Real fires are one of the few manufacturers still specialising in open fires. They are for customers all over the UK.